Herr Tartüff (1925)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Carl Mayer (writer)
Molière (play)

Release Date:

24 July 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's Tartuffe, in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets his own inheritance.

Plot Keywords:

Travelling Cinema | Seduction | Religious Delusion | Hypocrisy | Poison

Cast

Hermann Picha	...	Der Greis / Old councilor
Rosa Valetti	...	Sein Haushälterin / Housekeeper
André Mattoni	...	Sein Enkel / Grandson
Werner Krauss	...	Herr Orgon
Lil Dagover	...	Frau Elmire / Elmire, Orgon's wife
Lucie Höflich	...	Dorine
Emil Jannings	...	Tartüff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Camilla Horn

Directed by
F.W. Murnau

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Carl Mayer		writer
Molière		play

Produced by
Erich Pommer	....	producer

Original Music by
Giuseppe Becce

Cinematography by
Karl Freund		(as Carl Freund)

Art Direction by
Robert Herlth
Walter Röhrig

Costume Design by
Robert Herlth
Walter Röhrig

Makeup Department
Waldemar Jabs	....	makeup artist

Stunts
Camilla Horn	....	stunt double: Lil Dagover

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Baberske	....	assistant camera

Music Department
Kurt Graunke	....	conductor: new score

Production Companies

• Universum Film (UFA)

Distributors

• Universum Film (UFA) (1925) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Ufa Film Company (1927) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (video)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• UFA Video & Media (UK) (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Tartüff
Tartuffe (USA)
Der Scheinheilige (Austria) [de]
Swietoszek (Poland) [pl]
Tartuffe (France) [fr]
Tartufo (Spain) [es]
Tartufo (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

74 min | USA:70 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Ufa-Atelier, Berlin-Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Movie Connections:

Version of Le tartuffe (1984)

It's still Murnau

This is the fourth Murnau i've seen, after Nosferatu, Sunrise and Faust. I admire the work of Murnau for it's beautiful compositions an camera movement. Murnau is able to translate the mood he want's to set into composition and movement without being artsy for the sake of it.

Tartuffe has quiet a story behind it. Apparently, Murnau was forced by contract to make this film. So this film is to Murnau what Spartacus was to Kubrick. Even though it's still a Murnau picture: again Murnau knows how to give a quiet flat story more depth by suggestion and style. I liked the film, it's hasn't got the outdoors scene's that Sunrise and Nosferatu had, or the huge sets and special effect of Faust, but still it remains an exciting film. Don't hold back by the negative reviewers of the film, this is, by all means, not a bad film. It's just that Murnau made so much breathtaking stuff in his other work, that this film seems not so historical interesting. But if you're a fan of Murnau's other work I'm sure you'll like this as well. Make sure you'll watch the Masters of Cinema edition. It has a great documentary about the making of this film. It gave me a lot of new insights about the film and about Murnau.